Hackney Pension Scheme Member Survey

Overview

We would like you to complete this survey because our records shows you are a member of the London Borough of Hackney Pension Fund, either because you are paying into the scheme today as part of your pension benefits package (active member), you are currently receiving a regular pension benefit from the scheme (pensioner member) or you have pension scheme benefits with us that you have not yet taken (deferred member).

Hackney Pension Fund is a defined benefit Local Government Pension Scheme regulated by statute. Benefits are therefore determined by legislation. 
Contributions paid by scheme members and their employers goes into each devolved LGPS Fund. Hackney pension fund is one of 86 in England and Wales. As required by legislation, that money is invested in a wide range of instruments, some in the UK and some globally. 

Money can be invested in reputable public companies, UK and Corporate, bonds, infrastructure, and property, to name but a few. In line with government directive, all of the Fund’s investments are invested via pooled investment vehicles managed by reputable investment managers and the London Collective Investment Vehicle (LCIV) Pool.  They are not invested directly in individual companies.

The Pensions Committee, formed of Councillors, a scheme member representative and an employer representative is supported by Council employees and external advisors to make decisions on how best to invest the money because the Pension  Fund is required to invest in a way that helps the money to grow without taking undue risk which may lead to investment losses. The Committee performs its functions based on full delegation from the Council.

The Committee has long taken the view that it wants to invest the Pension Fund’s money in a responsible and sustainable manner, (often referred to as responsible investment and stewardship), but without taking undue risk which would impact the ability of the Pension Fund to make sufficient returns to ensure that it can afford to pay the pensions and other benefits due to pension scheme members. To be clear, as a scheme member you are protected from any risk on those investments, because your benefits are guaranteed in law, however, if the Hackney Pension Fund was not able to generate sufficient returns, the Council and other Employers in the Fund would need to fund the difference via increased employer contributions. This may directly impact cash available to the council for the provision of other services.

Responsible Investing is a broad term that covers environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, climate change as well as stewardship and engagement (i.e. speaking to companies and managers who we invest in to bring about positive change in society). It is this area that we are keen to get your feedback on, the survey should take no more than 5-10 minutes of your time and your views are important to us in thinking about how we might invest in the future.